The Muskin Dune Cat

This page briefly illustrates my restoration of a 1972 Muskin Dune Cat.  The Dune Cat was a short lived endeavor by the HPE Muskin Cement Corporation in California.  I aquired the Go Kart from a good friend who rode it when he was younger.  It was sitting in the woods behind his parents house for years before the restoration began.

This was the condition I found it in (except it was in one piece)

The Dune Cat uses a Jackshaft assembly that was originally intended to use a Torque Converter set-up much like the ones that Comet Industries produces.  We did away with the torque converter assembly, mainly due to the cost to replace it ($230), and went with a chain drive that is geared low enough for good climbing/acceleration plus a top end around 28 mph.

Before we got the gearing right, the Dune Cat had a top speed of around 40 mph which was WAY TOO FAST!

After I cleaned up the frame and removed the #40 Drive chain, I painted the frame to keep the rust down.

After some extensive mail-order parts hunting, Brandon and I began to assemble the Dune Cat with it new (and beefier) parts.  We bolted on a Tecumseh 10HP engine, New front hubs, and all new wheels and tires.  There was still a good deal of fabrication needed to turn this into a Kart.

Just for fun we stuck the body on to see how it would sit when completed.

After pressing off the bearings and collars, we replaced all of the bearings with new ones (1" ID, 2" OD).

Brandon welded the Brake caliper to the Jackshaft housing and the rotor to the axle.  After the brake was in place, I drilled out the cable guide and routed a mini-bike cable to the pedal.

The larger engine offset the alignment of the chain, so I am thinking about upgrading it to a 3/4" jackshaft to make it a little stronger.  But that's a little later.  It's driving fine for now.

To see a quick video of me (Stan) riding the Dune Cat without the body Click Here

Completed Tasks:

Removed all hardware

Un-seized steering shaft

Cleaned, sanded and painted frame

Replaced Jackshaft assembly

Weld Support for Seat/Body

Extended Throttle and Brake pedals

Bored Spindles and inserted Bushings

Mounted new hubs and bearings on spindles

Weld Bracket for throttle rod connection to throttle cable

Fabricated Bracket to hold fuel tank above Engine

Modified Throttle linkage on engine to allow cable control

Replaced all bearings and hangers on axle (It just sounds easy!)

Welded brake caliper to side of jackshaft housing

Welded Brake Rotor to axle (twice)

Routed a mini-bike brake cable

Mounted a seat to the Cart's Frame (temporary)

Mounted 10HP Tecumseh and NORAM Clutch

Re-geared the Dune Cat after creating a death trap (5.8:1 ratio now)

Re-enforce fiberglass body from underneath

Fill Cracks in body with Bondo Fiberglass Filler

Sand Body Thoroughly

Still in the works:

Paint It!